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The Herd is an unshirkingly brutal, vegan-minded short which serves as a chilling metaphor for the inhumane treatment of cattle at the hands of the dairy industry.

Hundreds of millions of these sentient creatures suffer and die every year as their bodies are treated like machines. Forcefully impregnated so they produce milk, they are pumped full of growth hormones to produce unnaturally large quantities of milk, and antibiotics to combat constant mastitis infections. When they are no longer able to lactate, they are destroyed.

The Herd substitutes women for cattle and subjects them to the same horrendous processes as the average dairy cow as it delves into the everyday horrors of the dairy industry…

Slasher films are infamous for instigating a seemingly unending chain of sequels. Cynically speaking, slasher sequels are generally inferior titles that simply rehash the plot of the original in a desperate bid to capitalise on its success. Speaking as the owner of various slasher franchise boxsets, a few sequels can surpass expectations and actually enhance the impact of the original, fleshing out characters, exploring back stories and expanding mythos.

Of all the slasher films you’d expect to spawn a sequel - and a rather belated one at that - See No Evil (2006) probably wouldn’t be high on your list. A conventional, if rather unremarkable affair, it featured WWE star Kane (Glen Jacobs) as a reclusive psychopath brutally murdering a group of delinquents who, as part of their community service, are sent to clean up the old abandoned hotel he resides in. While commercially successful, it was essentially a re-run of old slasher conventions, grimed up …

A documentary crew follows the bemusing exploits of a group of house-sharing vampires in this charming, oddly heart-warming comedy-horror from New Zealanders Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement.

From arguing over the cleaning rota and attempting to gain entry to the most hip and happening nightspots, to deciding what should be done about the dead vampire hunter in the basement, the utter banality of the situations the misfits find themselves in, renders their attempts to integrate with the outside world infectiously humorous.

James is the author of 'Dario Argento' (Kamera Books) and 'The Company of Wolves' (Devil’s Advocates). He contributes to Exquisite Terror and Diabolique, and has also written for Paracinema, Film Ireland, Eye for Film, Little White Lies and The Quietus.